For Immediate
Release
March 14, 2006
'Party
'n' Pay' PSA (Quicktime
version)
'Party
'n' Pay' PSA (Windows Media
version)
Resources for Crystal Meth
Addiction
Whitman-Walker
Clinic's Addictions Services
Let's Talk About
Meth
D.C. DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH, WHITMAN-WALKER CLINIC RELEASE PUBLIC SERVICE
AD AIMED AT STEMMING CRYSTAL METH USE
‘Party
’n’ Pay’ Targets Gay Men Using Chat Rooms,
Bars
WASHINGTON
– Whitman-Walker Clinic, in cooperation with the District
of Columbia Department of Health (DOH), today unveiled a
cutting-edge television public service announcement warning
of the health and life-threatening consequences of using
crystal methamphetamine, a growing drug of choice among
gay men.
The 30-second spot, entitled,
“Party ’n’ Pay,” depicts the mad
spiral of chat rooms, sex and drugs that for many gay men
add up to exposure to diseases, including AIDS. The ad was
made possible by a grant from the DOH Addiction, Prevention
and Recovery Administration. The release of the PSA also
marks National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health
Awareness Week.
“Crystal meth is the
number one drug in many gay male circles and represents
a considerable threat to the health of our residents,”
said Gregg Pane, M.D., DOH director. “Current data
indicates that meth users are three times as likely to contract
HIV and four times as likely to contract syphilis, and users
face an increased likelihood of violence and mental and
other physical disorders.”
Roberta Geidner-Antoniotti,
Whitman-Walker Clinic’s interim executive director,
said the drug is cascading through D.C.’s gay male
community.
“Nearly half the clients
treated by our addiction services program have a problem
with crystal meth, sometimes in combination with other addictions,”
she said. “The drug leads many users to engage in
unsafe sex, which is a huge concern in this city where we
believe one in five adults already has HIV and a third of
them don’t even know it.”
The ad shows men chatting
with each other on the Internet, arranging to meet for sex
and drug activity. It’s a jagged montage of computer
screens, men’s bodies, bags of “drugs”
and typing hands intended to evoke the frenetic pace of
people under the influence of crystal meth. While it shows
men looking for other men who are HIV-negative, it implies
that many users are so driven that they don’t care
and take unnecessary risks with their lives.
The ad’s title, “Party
’n’ Pay,” is a pun based on chat room
slang where gay men looking to hook up for sex and crystal
meth ask if others want to “party and play”
or “PNP.”
“Many people mistakenly
believe that there is nothing that can be done to help a
crystal meth addict,” said Robert Johnson, senior
deputy director for substance abuse services at APRA. “We
are here to say there is hope and recovery for meth addiction.”
“We’ve seen men
lose their jobs, their savings, their partners and all their
friends except for fellow drug-users,” added Geidner-Antoniotti.
“We made this ad to try to reach out to those men
who are beginning to realize they need help, letting them
know that Whitman-Walker Clinic will provide treatment without
judging them. In our experience, that’s the approach
that has the best chance of succeeding against a very powerful,
seductive drug.”
The ad was produced and directed
by David Schulhoff of New York. It will be provided to all
the television stations in the Washington metropolitan area
as a public service announcement.
In addition, it is being offered
to clubs and bars where gay men congregate, often using
crystal meth, to be shown along with music videos. And Whitman-Walker
Clinic will send copies to area college campuses, as part
of an effort to spark discussion.
The PSA was created in consultation
with the D.C. Crystal Meth Working Group, a grassroots organization
that is fighting crystal methamphetamine use in the Washington
metropolitan area. The D.C. Crystal Meth Working Group will
hold a community premiere of the ad Wednesday, March 29,
at the Green Lantern, a gay men’s club located at
1335 Green Ct. N.W., at 8 p.m.
For more information regarding substance abuse assistance,
contact Whitman-Walker Clinic at (202) 939-7656, or call
the APRA Assessment and Referral Center at (202) 698-6080.
Established in 1973, Whitman-Walker
Clinic is a non-profit, community-based provider of health
care and social services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan
area. Through three sites, in the District of Columbia and
Northern Virginia, the Clinic offers primary medical and
dental care; mental health and addictions counseling and
treatment; HIV education, prevention, and testing; legal
services; case management; and a food bank. Whitman-Walker
Clinic is committed to meeting the life needs of the gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community and people
living with HIV/AIDS.
The DOH Addiction Prevention
and Recovery Administration is the single state agency for
substance abuse prevention and treatment. APRA plans and
implements the public policy on substance abuse for the
residents of the District of Columbia.
